In addition to the new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K announced earlier today, Blackmagic Design also released a major update to its video production software DaVinci Resolve. According to Blackmagic, DaVinci Resolve 15 comes with "hundreds of new features and improvements" but the major addition is a new Fusion module that fully integrates visual effects and motion graphics tools into the DaVinci Resolve workflow.

If you were wondering if Blackmagic is serious about making this a class-leading application, this update should help answer that. Already an industry favorite for color-correction, DaVinci Resolve 15 now includes four high-end video production applications in one: there's a module for editing, a module for color correction, a module for audio production, and now, the new Fusion module for VFX and motion graphics as well.

Previously available as a stand-alone application, Fusion—which Blackmagic Design calls the "world’s most advanced visual effects and motion graphics software"—is now built right into DaVinci Resolve 15.

“DaVinci Resolve 15 is a huge and exciting leap forward for post production because it’s the world’s first solution to combine editing, color, audio and now visual effects into a single software application,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We’ve listened to the incredible feedback we get from customers and have worked really hard to innovate as quickly possible. DaVinci Resolve 15 gives customers unlimited creative power to do things they’ve never been able to do before. It’s finally possible to bring teams of editors, colorists, sound engineers and VFX artists together so they can collaborate on the same project at the same time, all in the same software application!”

According to Blackmagic, the Fusion module gives visual effects and motion graphics artists a true 3D workspace with over 250 tools for compositing, vector paint, particles, keying, rotoscoping, text animation, tracking, stabilization and more. You'll still be able to purchase Fusion on its own, but Blackmagic plans to fully integrate the entire application into DaVinci Resolve 15 "within the next 12-18 months."

Today's release isn't the final version, but rather a public beta that is available as a free download to all current DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio customers. The free version of DaVinci Resolve 15 will remain free, while the Studio version—which adds multi-user collaboration, support for frame rates over 60p, more filters and effects, and more—is available for $300 with "no annual subscription fees or ongoing licensing costs." Take that Adobe...

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 15

New upgrade fully integrates visual effects and motion graphics, adds even more audio tools plus hundreds of new features and improvements that editors and colorists have asked for!

NAB 2018, Las Vegas, USA - April 9, 2018 - Blackmagic Design today announced DaVinci Resolve 15, a massive update that fully integrates visual effects and motion graphics, making it the world’s first solution to combine professional offline and online editing, color correction, audio post production, multi user collaboration and now visual effects together in one software tool. DaVinci Resolve 15 adds an entirely new Fusion page with over 250 tools for compositing, paint, particles, animated titles and more. In addition, DaVinci Resolve 15 includes a major update to Fairlight audio, along with over 100 new features and improvements that professional editors and colorists have asked for.

A public beta of DaVinci Resolve 15 will be available today and for immediate download from the Blackmagic Design website. DaVinci Resolve 15 will also be demonstrated on the Blackmagic Design NAB 2018 booth at #SL216.

DaVinci Resolve 15 continues to revolutionize post production by combining 4 extremely high end applications as different pages in one single piece of software. The edit page has all of the tools professional editors need for both offline and online editing, the color page features the world’s most advanced color correction tools, the Fairlight audio page is designed specifically for audio post production, and the new Fusion page gives visual effects and motion graphics artists everything they need to create feature film quality effects and animations. All it takes is a single click to instantly move between editing, color, effects and audio.

This gives individual users unlimited creative flexibility because they can learn and explore different toolsets. It also enables collaboration so people with different talents can work together on the same project at the same time. The DaVinci Resolve 15 collaborative workflow dramatically speeds up post production because customers no longer need to import, export or translate projects between different software applications, and work no longer needs to be conformed when changes are made. Everything is in the same software application.

The free version of DaVinci Resolve 15 can be used for professional work and has more features than virtually every other paid application for post production. DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio, which adds multi user collaboration, 3D, VR, dozens of additional filters and effects, unlimited network rendering and other advanced features such as temporal and spatial noise reduction, is available to own for only US$299. There are no annual subscription fees or ongoing licensing costs. DaVinci Resolve 15 Studio costs less than all other cloud based software subscriptions and it does not require an internet connection once the software has been activated. That means customers don’t have to worry about losing work in the middle of a job if there is no internet connection.

“DaVinci Resolve 15 is a huge and exciting leap forward for post production because it’s the world’s first solution to combine editing, color, audio and now visual effects into a single software application,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We’ve listened to the incredible feedback we get from customers and have worked really hard to innovate as quickly possible. DaVinci Resolve 15 gives customers unlimited creative power to do things they’ve never been able to do before. It’s finally possible to bring teams of editors, colorists, sound engineers and VFX artists together so they can collaborate on the same project at the same time, all in the same software application!”

DaVinci Resolve 15 Detailed Overview

DaVinci Resolve 15 features an entirely new Fusion page for feature film quality visual effects and motion graphics animation. Fusion was previously only available as a stand alone application and is the world’s most advanced visual effects and motion graphics software. It is now built into DaVinci Resolve 15. The new Fusion page gives customers a true 3D workspace with over 250 tools for compositing, vector paint, particles, keying, rotoscoping, text animation, tracking, stabilization and more. Adding Fusion to DaVinci Resolve has been a massive project that will be completed over the next 12-18 months. Customers can get started using Fusion today to complete nearly all of their visual effects and motion graphics work. The standalone version of Fusion will continue to be available for customers who need it.

In addition to bringing Fusion into DaVinci Resolve 15, Blackmagic Design has also added support for Apple Metal, multiple GPUs and CUDA acceleration, making Fusion in DaVinci Resolve faster than ever. To add visual effects or motion graphics, customers simply select a clip in the timeline on the Edit page and then click on the Fusion page where they can use Fusion’s dedicated node based interface, which is optimized for visual effects and motion graphics. Compositions created in the standalone version of Fusion can also be copied and pasted into DaVinci Resolve 15 projects.

DaVinci Resolve 15 also features a huge update to the Fairlight audio page. The Fairlight page now has a complete ADR toolset, static and variable audio retiming with pitch correction, audio normalization, 3D panners, audio and video scrollers, a fixed playhead with scrolling timeline, shared sound libraries, support for legacy Fairlight projects, and built in cross platform plugins such as reverb, hum removal, vocal channel and de-esser. With DaVinci Resolve 15, customers no longer have to worry about audio plugins when moving between Mac, Windows and Linux because the FairlightFX plugins run natively on all three platforms.

DaVinci Resolve is the fastest growing nonlinear video editor in the industry. It’s also Hollywood’s favorite color corrector. Blackmagic Design has listened carefully to feedback from professional colorists and editors. DaVinci Resolve 15 includes over a hundred new features and improvements that editors and colorists have asked for.

Colorists get an entirely new LUT browser for quickly previewing and applying LUTs, along with new shared nodes that are linked so when one is changed they all change, multiple playheads for quickly referencing different shots in a program, over 5x performance improvement for stabilization, improved noise reduction, and new Super Scale HD to 8K up-rezzing. DaVinci Resolve 15 also expands HDR support with GPU accelerated Dolby Vision metadata analysis and native HDR 10+ grading controls. In addition, new ResolveFX let customers quickly patch blemishes or remove unwanted elements in a shot using smart fill technology. There are also new ResolveFX for dust and scratch removal, lens and aperture diffraction effects, and more.

Professional editors will find new features in DaVinci Resolve 15 specifically designed to make cutting, trimming, organizing and working with large projects even better. DaVinci Resolve 15 has dramatically improved load times so that large projects with hundreds of timelines and thousands of clips now open instantly. New stacked timelines and timeline tabs let editors see multiple timelines at once so they can quickly cut, paste, copy and compare scenes between timelines. There are also new markers with on-screen annotations, subtitle and closed captioning tools, auto save with versioning, greatly improved keyboard customization tools, new 2D and 3D Fusion title templates, image stabilization on the Edit page, a floating timecode window, improved organization and metadata tools, Netflix render presets with IMF support and much more.

For the ultimate high speed workflow, customers can add a DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel, DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel or a DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel. All controls are logically placed near natural hand positions and are made out of the highest quality materials. Smooth, high resolution weighted trackballs and precision engineered knobs and dials feature the perfect amount of resistance for accurately adjusting any setting. The DaVinci Resolve control panels give colorists and editors fluid, hands on control over multiple parameters at the same time, allowing them to create looks that are simply impossible with a standard mouse.

In addition, Blackmagic Design also introduced new Fairlight audio consoles for audio post production that will be available later this year. The new Fairlight consoles are available in 2, 3 and 5 bay configurations. Prices for the new Fairlight control panels are approximately 80% less than the previously available panels with prices ranging from US$21,995 to US$48,995.

Availability and Price

The public beta of DaVinci Resolve 15 is available today as a free download from the Blackmagic Design website for all current DaVinci Resolve and DaVinci Resolve Studio customers. DaVinci Resolve Studio is available for US$299 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

The Fairlight consoles will be available later this year and will be priced from US$21,995 for the Fairlight 2 Bay console. The Fairlight consoles will be available from Blackmagic Design Resellers worldwide.

Comments

Awful performance on my systems. My Laptop is gaming speced and the Fusion Tab completely destroys it. The performance nosedives so much, and I have to restart the application. RAM usage is insane, as well, This is with 2 < 20 second clips on the timeline (1080p 60FPS). I think you need a GTX 1080 and 32GB RAM to use this comfortably.

I can double my RAM (have a free slot), but I cannot upgrade my GPU because of the form factor...

Which doesn't matter, because I also tried Premiere and Vegas trials, and they are flawless on this system - even for 4K, without using Proxy Files.

For fun, I also tried Final Cut Pro X on my Late 2013 iMac, and it ran flawlessly, even editing 4K without Proxies or Optimization. Old i5 and Iris Pro iGPU... I laughed, cause I was expecting this thing to crash and burn. Trying to run Resolve on it, I have to reboot my system whenever I open the Fusion tab. Final Cut was rock solid.

Fantastic software. Imagine what they could do if they added a stills module. They already have the media management and colour grading elements. Past versions can be bent into processing stills, but with a purpose built module it would be incredible..

This is really amazing software to be free. I'm a rank amateur with video and video editing. I wanted to put together a little video of my son's snowboarding season. Had all sorts of trouble with iMovie. Grabbed this, watched a 15 minute "getting started" tutorial, and was pretty good to go. I can tell it's WAY deeper and more powerful than I'll probably ever use, but the UI is simple for a beginner to get going.

I'm not surprised - I've been doing video editing/VFX as a career for a couple of decades (using Quantel, FCP, After Effects, Nuke, Resolve & Premiere) and I tried iMovie once (for a home movie). I had no idea what was going on. SO confusing! Pro-level software is SO much easier to use.

In a word, Wow! This is an amazing offer from BlackMagic Design that is irresistable. I've already jumped ship from Apple, and I refuse to buy into Adobe's forever recurring monthly fee software rental concept as well. So, this is it! It seems so overwhelming and feature rich, and being a novice (somewhate) to video NLE production I just need to figure out how to get started in producing my own simple video productions (no George Lucas production stuff (@J@) ) with all the buttons, bells, and dials. Any YouTube video or otherwise that can be recommended to get one up and running with the basics?

Although I have the Panasonic G9 Pro which does 4K/60p, I intend to get their new Pocket Cinema Camera as well after release in September. And, the icing on the cake, the $299 DaVinci Resolve Studio is included with that camera! :-)

@Tokyojerry, It might be a little early for a range of training on Resolve 15, but getting to know 14 well should be a big help. Keep in mind that the v15 update is very significant in the new capabilities it offers, so you'll need updated tutorials for those.

@Vik2012 Thanks much for that extensive set of learning resources. Much appreciated. On initial launch, the program looks formidable and somewhat intimidating, but like any thing complex, the cockpit of a jumbo jet, learning Japanese, camera features and control, taking things step by step, any thing can be mastered. After all, 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. :-) I will definitely look at these resources. Yes, v14 should suffice. 'A Picture (video clip) Says a 1000 Words' rather then attempting to read a 1000-page manual and imagine concepts in the mind without visuals.

BlackMagic is being very generous to provide DaVinci Resolve to the general public for free. Even better, it is cross platform. Since I stopped using Apple any thing, FCP-X is no longer a consideration. DaVinci Resolve is a big welcome. After all, similar to Apple, BMD's business model is selling high end video production hardware. DaVinci Resolve is the icing on the cake.

They are not necessarily a sequenced set of videos like starting with, how to import, but each video is short, sweet and to the point it seems on some aspect of the program. They do have the regular training program though (top link) for sale.

Consider this, with the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K that comes with Resolve 15 and has no need for expensive external HDMI recorders for under $1300, this is quite a dream. That is, lets see how the new camera performs!

You are using 4K heavily packed out of camera footage? This is where the Studio version is useful as the decoder used there is much more performant. As I understand this is what Blackmagic is also needing to pay for using so that's why it's not found in the free version. I'm too lazy but transcoding to editing format would help too to boost up the speed.

The last machine on which I tried DaVinci Resolve (free version) was a highly specified 3D modelling machine, with Intel i7, 16GB RAM, SSD, and two nVidia TITAN GPUs. Resolve seemed a bit sluggish - and crashed every other day - so I went back to editing my clips in the other completely free and unrestricted software on the machine - Blender. This 3D modelling software has an extremely clunky video editor (if you're not already a hardened Blender user!) but at least it never crashed.The DaVinci site says "DaVinci Resolve 15 features an incredible new video playback engine with CPU and GPU optimizations, lower latency, faster UI refresh"... so perhaps at last they've cured the lagginess? Will download and check...

The performance issues have got to be hardware related. Davinci Resolve has worked really well on my modest Windows machine and flies along on my Mac and Macbook. This has been the case for a couple of versions now. Premier Pro is dog slow at times though, or was, as I ditched Premier last year for Resolve.

No, it's not hardware related. I have a decent machine with lots of ram and SSD disks for the application and the media file (which was small).

Premiere Pro coped fine with the same media file on the same machine. Quite possibly the configuration immediate post-install is not optimal for Davinci, but it's not inadequate hardware that made it laggy. I've been reading online and plenty of people say the same thing about it.

Not to forget to distinguish between Resolve Studio and free version - the former has much, much better performance due to much more efficient codec. So in order to compare it with Premiere Pro, which is a paid software, Resolve Studio has to be used in comparison. And again, Resolve free is fine for working with editing formats, which the h.264(5) are not.

I've been trying out all the various options for video editing on Linux and have been meaning to check out Resolve for some time. Lately I have been using Lightworks which is also a fantastic piece of free software (well free until you want to produce HD video). Not sure which one of those two are better, I suppose it's a matter of personal taste since they both offer amazing features.

Having spent a few weeks now with Resolve (and now upgrading to this release) I can say that I'll never go back to PP or any other overpriced subscription shenanigans.I'll have to re-learn some stuff - but it's worth it and I'm also encouraging diversity and progress and I'm not bloating giant A any further.

You can now preview LUTS in the color module on the fly, in a gallery-like view. This solves one of the minor gripes I had with Resolve. Check out the update video, even without Fusion it's a huge improvement.

It was only a couple of days ago we were posting about how good the previous DaVinci Resolve is. This update is very impressive. And I will rethink my FCPX usage as I try out DaVinci Resolve 15.

I also mentioned on that previous thread that I wished to see an updated Pocket Cinema Camera from Blackmagic to replace the one I have had for years. And it has also arrived as a new 4K camera announcement.

The icing on the cake is that you get the full DaVinci Resolve Studio 15 with the very reasonable cost of that new 4K Pocket Cinema Camera!

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